2 murder accused walk free as lone witness not traceable

Two men, accused of brutally killing a person on the roof of a temple here, have been acquitted by a Delhi court after the police failed to bring the lone eyewitness before it.
Special Judge Narinder Kumar absolved the two accused of the offence of murder under the IPC and said the prosecution could not secure the presence of the 16-year-old eyewitness on whose statement the case was registered.
"Despite efforts, prosecution could not secure presence of prosecution witness...Fresh process was issued and directed to be served. However, the inspector also could not get the process served because of nontraceability of the witness," the judge said.

The court noted the police's submission that the witness was a vagabond and hence summons could not be served upon him.
"As a result, when court finds that prosecution has not been able to substantiate accusation levelled against the accused, both the accused persons are acquitted of the charge framed against them," the judge said.
According to the prosecution, the victim was found dead on the roof of a temple near New Delhi Railway Station on January 21 this year.

The police lodge a murder case after the eyewitness, a teenager, told them that he saw the accused kill the man with a stone and a knife on the roof of the Gauri Shankar temple here.

It was alleged that the accused were arrested and the weapons used in committing the offence were also recovered.
The post-mortem report, too, confirmed that stone caused his death, the court noted.
However, as the only eyewitness could not be produced, the court did not consider other witnesses and evidences and acquitted the accused of the charges.